One Day Seven Years
by GuardianAngel L
Summary: is that really him? what happened to him, please don't stutter, don't let him change, i want him to be the same, i want him to be Naruto..."I'm sorry"


**One Day**

*_step…pap…step…pap…step- _"Stay under the umbrella" she looked down at him, resting her hand on his dirty blond head, bringing them to a stop. He turned his head and looked up at her; she kept her eyes locked on his, that similar shade of blue running memories through her head like track.

He nodded and she went to walk, when he started running _again_. His foot plopped into place where every puddle settled on the sidewalk, he made the occasional off step to plunge his foot into the storm drains where the water had built up. "You're gonna catch a cold!" She checked her footing before quickening her pace to catch up with the boy. He kept on running."It's too dark out here!" She screamed through the sound of rain, she sped up a little. She was having a harder and harder time seeing him through the dark of the rain. It had been raining since the day before, it was six am and all she wanted to do was drop him off so she could go to work, normally she would have let him walk, they lived far from his school so they had to leave early, with the rain it was hard to distinguish morning from night. Konoha even had the street lights on, which she desperately tried to use to see the child whenever she thought he passed under one. His distance was starting to concern her. She broke into a full power walk. As she passed an alleyway her foot caught on a risen square of concrete. She continued to look at the boy as he strode off into the dark; her head only rose to follow him with her eyes. She was falling and would lose her sight of the child. Three seconds till she hit the ground, one, two

*stop. Someone grabbed her left hand."**Kid! You're mother said stop! She almost fell trying to keep up with you!**" The girl looked down the street. She watched as he ran back to her at the mention of her falling "Sorry" he spoke in his low voice. She turned to her left to look at the man that saved her from falling, but found that between the dark air and the part of his face that was casted in the shadow of the building, she could not see his face. It was that man again.

He was homeless, clothes torn, he always had a bottle of alcohol, but she never actually saw him leave the alley to go and buy it. He'd been there all her six years there, she'd moved into her building at the age of nineteen. She had seen him almost every day, on her walk to and from work, she was the financial director of the southern Konoha weapons station, the actual name of the company was TENknives, but people at the factory just referred to it as the SKS, no matter which factory it was, the eastern, the northern, or any other place you could find one. She prodded the child to walk as she stared at the man, he was speechless. She nodded in his direction before continuing down the street.

It had been a long day but she was finally done with work. She stepped down the street, it was eight and the rain was still there, the consistent *_shhhh_ sound of the down pouring rain clouding her hearing. It was sad when you couldn't tell eight at night from 6 am that same day. She sidestepped to avoid an awkward confrontation with a stranger. After a few more steps the alley came into view. There he was again, in the shadow of a dumpster. She worked up the courage she needed to go talk to him, it's not like he was an old friend. She took a few cautious steps. He watched through the darkness as the girl appeared in front of him.

"Thank you!" she yelled trying to beat the rain…

"It's fine" she could barely hear the mumble."Nice kid you got, he yours'?" His voice was still like a murmur, was he drunk or just quite?

"Maybe you should tone down on the drinks?" she said, still wary of the man, he _was _drunk.

"You can never have enough of this!" He said, waving the label less bottle in the air a bit before chugging a few ounces.

"**Great he's an alchy"** he started looking at her. He could see the faint tint of blue around the glint the street light was making on her hair, the subtle curves through her trench coat."You're pretty, you know that?" she eyed him suspiciously "I think you've had a bit too much to drink" she said with a giggle, trying to stifle her scared expression.

"What?" he started getting up. What was she gonna do, he was gonna walk to her?"You know, you look a lot like someone I use to know, he said. Taking the final step needed to be out of the shadow, blond hair and blue eyes emerged from beneath the overcast of black. When he stepped into the dim lighting of the street light behind her, all of the feelings and memories shot back to her, all of the brief moments, _all of the shyness_… "N-Naruto-kun" She stammered out before cowering under a shade of red and collapsing to the damp concrete floor, where her umbrella followed.

Naruto's ignorant haze fell off immediately."Hinata!?" he asked nobody, dropping his bottle of ramen juice on the floor, letting it shatter and mix with the rain, it poured down the storm drain. He leaned over and pulled her up. He looked at the apartment building she stayed in, two buildings away. He had no way of knowing which apartment she stayed in. He decided just to leave her on the street with him, until she woke up. The dumpster he was sitting next to didn't really seem right, so he crossed the street and set her down on a bench under a veranda that protruded out of a small, abandoned Victorian building. He made sure she was comfortable before crossing back to "his" side of the street. He didn't feel comfortable being in such dirty clothes. He stepped into the alley and picked up two plastic bags. He stepped behind the dumpster and opened the bag; perfectly clean clothes started peering over the rim of the black bag. He got undressed then opened the other bag, slightly less full. He dropped his old clothes in the bag, before reaching over and pulling out a clean white shirt and some black basketball shorts.

He slipped into them, before running as quick as he could, without using chakra, across the street. He arrived under the veranda and sat down next to her head, best he wait till she woke up. He looked down and fought the urge to kiss her forehead; it had been a long time since he had talked to someone who he didn't resent, settling on brushing away a strand of her indigo hair, now a midnight black in the dampness of the rain. He noticed her stir; the bench must have been uncomfortable. He got up and lifted her head, sitting down a little bit closer than he had been, slowly lowering her head into his lap.

Her eyes stared to open and she quickly shot up."You're up" a monotonous voice rang behind her. She turned her waist a bit to look at him "You're not cold? Are you?" She still couldn't find words. **"When did he…**" she looked at his white shirt, _she looked at him_. He'd changed so much. The memories of his chubby face, plastered with a goofy grin were now gone, replaced with a strong jaw and a sleek face, unfortunately, though, the soft, enthusiastic grin was replaced with the solemn, still expression of motionless lips. Her eyes fell to his shirt, the way the damp part of his white t clung to his skin. The old, slight curve of his upper torso, now replaced with the sharp dips and crevices that outlined the bulk of his muscle, from his abs to his upper arms, resting in his lap as he eyed her. He raised a brow "You ok, Hinata" he asked, his voice still calm and low even though they were close enough the rain wouldn't hinder their voices being heard."N-Naruto-kun" she whispered, that day running back to her.

*_wrrrrrrrrrrahh_ The cheers of the crowd rang through the Konoha stadium as the winner had been decided. Neji stood upon the sand ground looking around. _*prshh_ The rocks shifted in front of his feet. A blond ninja shot out of the soft dirt, fist first. The crowd looked on, had the Hyuuga boy let his guard down too soon? The boy's fist approached the chin of the Hyuuga child. With the quick swing of his right arm, Naruto's fist was directed to the right, grazing Neji's cheek, and with the single upward swing of his left arm, Neji gave the upper cut that was intended for himself, to Naruto. Naruto fell back, knocked out

"N-No, I'm not cold" she quickly spat out, realizing she had been ignoring him. He nodded "You've always been a shy one" he said watching the red become so strong it could be seen through the dim yellow of the street light near the sidewalk. " I never thought you to be the type to have kids, especially so early, he must be six, seven? He looks a lot like me, who's the dad?"" He's six…I-I adopted him. W-when he was four" she shifted her legs over the side of the bench to get herself into a seated position "It's been a long time, Naruto-kun".

"Let me tell you, the story of a boy-no, a _man_" her son nodded."He grew up without knowing his parents, _just like you_. _Only_ _he,_ knew the true pain of not having anyone"

"but mom, didn't someone adopt him?"

"That's just it, even though he had no parents, people hated this boy, they resented him, even the friends he did make, were taken from him, "_stay away from that boy_, they would tell their children, and their children listened.

"Why did they leave him alone?" he asked, the closeness of the story weighing at his heart. She adjusted the covers over him a bit, before looking to him.

" He was forced to carry a monster-"

"what kind of monster?"

" A scary monster, with red eyes and nine tails, the size of a mountain." The boy shifted uncomfortably under the covers."They were scared of him, mommy never knew this man really well, but then, no one did, except for a young black haired boy named Sasuke"

"Uncle!?" the boy yelled "he knew the boy?"

"Yes, he knew him probably as well as I know you, though, neither would ever admit it. Few people noticed him, but I did, everyone saw the goofy, annoying kid. But I could tell he cried at night, the swelling was always there, I could always see it, but when mommy was younger, she wasn't as brave, she couldn't work up the courage to talk to him. I regret that every day.""He also had the funniest speech impediment; he would say "tetebayo" at the end of every sentence, many thought it was annoying, but I always liked it, it was an involuntary phrase of determination. The boy, he never gave up, he grew stronger and stronger, I watched from the back as he grew in strength, of course, I couldn't always be there. He would be held back a grade often. He was untalented, but he always tried. He sought friends, even though everyone hated him, he sought strength, even though he had no talent, he smiled, a big, bright smile, even though every night he would go home to his apartment by himself, make himself something to eat, then cry into his pillow until he would fall asleep, Only to wake up the next day, knowing that it was going to happen again the next day and the next. He once stood up for me, when uncle Neji was little, about 14, he hated me, he blamed me for the death of his father, my uncle, and almost killed me in turn. But the boy stood up for me when I needed it, when I was forced by my peers to stop, he put a promise on himself to beat uncle Neji. When the fight finally came, he fought and fought, hit after hit, he took for me, but in the end, uncle Neji hit him, breaking the boys promise to me. He left, no one ever saw him again, it was only after he lost, I learned he had made the promise to me. I just wish he had given me a chance to tell him it wasn't his fault"… "When mom was little, she wasn't brave, she was shy, I even stuttered a lot." He cocked his head a bit "Yeah, I was the shy girl. Grandpa Hiashi told me I was weak, and left me to train myself. He practically disowned me. I cried often. I wanted to be strong, I wanted to be like him, even when he left, I knew he would help people, he was 14 the last time I saw him…. You wanna know what his name was, the boy who fought for mom?... Naruto Uzumaki, I loved that boy_._ That's why you don't have a dad, b-" she tried to grasp her breath, she was sobbing "because I, love that man." "It's okay mom" he said, brushing his fingers along the back of her palm that was resting on his bed. She shut off the light.

"Yeah" the blond said, the unfamiliar roughness sending shivers down her back. He fiddled with a square metal tag in his hand. "What's that" the girl asked, eyeing him as he looked over the metal square." A service tag" he said, aiming it around in his hand, trying get the light to hit it well enough for her to see the pressed letters that covered it. Her eyes focused in, he aimed it to his left slightly and all of a sudden, the name "popped"

_UZUMAKI NARUTO #33./5 _It read

"Y-You're in the military" she asked. The main purpose of Konoha, to protect the land of fire, was useless, once Orochimaru failed in his attempt assassinate the Kazakage, and died in the process, voiding the attempt to invade Konoha during the chuunin exams. Each year, Hinata watched as the world she once knew, and was prepared to die for, fell to an industrial machine, manufacturing items to be used around the ninja world, things as familiar as knives, to something as uncommon as a car, of course there had always been cars, but Hinata had only seen the occasional in foreign lands. Now, they roamed often, prowling the now sizeable Leaf village, Hinata wished she could just walk like she use to, bound after bound, but that would take chakra, which was now prohibited from use inside the village. "Yes, I'm homeless, but I'm not poor, the occasional mission gives me what I need to survive for the year" he answered. There were few levels of government forces left functioning, mainly, just the ANBU, which handled the serious, but rare issue, and then there were the law enforcers, Uchiha Police. "i-I'm surprised you live right there, i-I mean wouldn't the police normally kick you out, with being drunk and all? He watched as she bumbled around her words, her hands flinching, probably trying to stop herself from pushing her fingers together."Look, if you want me to go, I'll go" he started getting up, all the different synonyms for the same word ran through her head, the words each racing to her lips before being overtaken by another one "D-Don't!" she forced out before he could walk away. He liked that she valued his presence so much, but he would never admit it to himself. He sat down " It's just ramen juice anyway" he said. He heard a faint, light, _*hm-HM_ until it grew loud enough, was she laughing? All of a sudden a vigorous giggle erupted from the girl next to him. "Why are you laughing" she tried to answer him, but couldn't find the space in her voice. His face grew into a faint smile as he tried to resist laughing himself, at the girl next to him "What's so funny". Her voice finally started to settle, "it's just I see you every day with one of those bottles, I thought you drank every hour of the day"

"ha" his voice shot out

"and ramen juice!?, it's good to see you still have some of yourself left"

"hm?" He raised his eyebrow as he looked at her through the corner of his eye."Yeah, well, I don't like people anymore" those words and his serious tone stuck her heart like a knife, did he really dislike people, where had that boy gone? A boy ran down the sidewalk, _maybe,_ if he could find her job, he could find his mom."Isn't that your son" Naruto said, changing the topic, fearful of where it was headed. "It is!" she called out his name. He stopped and looked across the street, trying to shield his eyes from the rain, as he peered into the relatively dark area across the street. His mother came into figure and he ran across the street to meet he in the middle. "What are you doing? Don't go running in the street like that. She took him back to the veranda to get him out of the rain."Wow, he looks _a lot_ like me" Naruto said, finally realizing how much the kid mimicked his appearance when he was younger. "Whoa" the kid said, realizing the same. "I-Izugi," "**where did mom get that stutter?**"

"Meet Uzumaki Naruto" the boy froze over, it was _him_. "Anyway, what are you doing here, aren't you suppose to be at your friends'?"

"You said you'd call to check up on me, but you never did, so I left, they tried to catch me, but I told them I had to look for you." A woman across the street came into view under the street light.

"You gotta go back, now Izugi, they'll be worried" she said, pointing across the street to the lady looking around. "What do we do?" Hinata asked.

"_look for cars_" he said, tired of repeating the rules.

"Good, now go back to her, you were spending the night, don't break you promises, now go and tell her I said everything's all right".

"Bye, mom, bye Mr. Uzumaki" he waved before turning around and running across the street. The girl looked surprise as he ran to her feet. He pointed back to Hinata after saying something, and the girl gave a nervous wave. Hinata smiled and waved back, watching them walk back down the street. " I'm sorry" Naruto said, still stuck on her words to her son "don't break your promises**"." It'so. -kunI'msosorry you wouldn't have had to fight him if only I could have beat him myself I'm so sorry Naruto kun I'm sorry you left I'm sorry I couldn't tell you I don't care I just wish you had stayed I'm sorry I made you someone else**!" she yelled, the words, dragging on her heart, taking her breath, bringing tears to her eyes. He couldn't find anything, his brain had shut down."I-i…I'm still the same" why did he care that she thought he was different? Why did he care, couldn't he just get over it like he did everything else!? Why did it hurt him to talk to her about it, he told himself he would yell at her the next time he saw her! "Let's race?"

She looked at him confused "_race?" _ she got up with him. They ran across the street, she reached the alley first."I won" she said, over a big breathe. "Huh, we haven't started yet.." He looked up at the building wall."Y-you're joking, right Naruto-kun. He shook his head before leaping at the wall, his right foot connected first, and he took off up the wall. She hesitated before launching at the wall, following his ascension, for the first time in many years using chakra. They ran for what must have been an hour, the silent concentration, turning into fumbling giggles as their bodies tired. "Where *_heh_ are we going to" she jumped over an ac unit. Three more hours of running passed "Having fun," he asked, his old smile accompanying the words. She could only nod.

"That was funny" Naruto said biting into a pastry."I-I still can't believe he did that!" she responded, biting into her own pastry. He stepped up to her door with her. She stepped inside and turned around, thanks, Naruto" she said in all sincerity. Why was he so reluctant to the idea of her leaving."Anytime, for an old friend." "Why does he look so much like me? He asked, before she took off her trench coat, the door still wide open. She mustn't have heard him, because she didn't answer. "See yah, Hinata" he turned and walked back out into the rain. *_drip…drip…..drip_ "_Because he reminds me so much of you_" she spoke as soft as a pillow. The rain had stopped, what had he just heard, what was that? The cogs in his head made one final large rotation. Love, he tossed his trash on the ground and turned around, there she was on the verge of closing the door *_ step…pap… .steppap _he burst into a full sprint. She didn't know what happened, the rain had stopped right when she spoke, so what had happened, all she could feel was warmth. He took her breathe, she would breathe, but only when he decided to let her, or he needed it himself. His hands roamed to her lower waist under her hips, he lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist."I love you Hinata" He mumbled out in between the mingling of their lips. "Naruto-kun…" she wrapped her arms around his neck. He moved her over to the couch and laid her down. He crawled on top of her, kissing the moist skin of her neck, before leaning up and pulling off his shirt."I've always loved you Naruto"."I'm sorry I left you" he spoke into her ear.

**AN-hope you liked it, sorry I haven't posted on my other story, this is a one shot, I hope you like it. They're about 26 in this, hope you guys enjoyed.**


End file.
